Hi all,
Has anyone tried the all natural capsules from Dramamine or Bonine that are made with ginger extract? I’m wondering how they stack up to the regular stuff. Both of those meds make me seriously drowsy/loopy to the point that it ruins my day to take them. But the natural tabs seem too good to be true. Any experience?
Thanks!
I get motion sickness now on some coasters and simulators. I find drinking a soda, particularly, Coca Cola to help. Coke, as well as many other sodas, contain phosphoric acid (PA). PA is used to keep you from throwing up due to the high sugar count in the drink.
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My DW has taken the ginger pills and they do work “ok”. She’d says she’d rather take those & monitor herself than the Dramamine, which is stronger, but makes her drowsy.
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Bonine and Dramamine (not the natural versions) can actually prevent the motion sickness before it starts. Ginger, by comparison, settles the stomach after motion sickness sets in. As such, ginger may or may not be as effective from a practical standpoint.
As mentioned, however, Dramamine causes drowsiness.
What is clear is that sea-bands have been shown in several studies at being no more effective than a placebo, so I don’t recommend those at all. Waste of money. If they “work”, it is only because you wouldn’t have experienced the motion sickness to begin with!
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I don’t think that is how placebos work. It means there is no physical reason it helps you, but it still helps.
And now you’ve ruined the placebo effect for everyone! 
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True. I didn’t really state that well. Although it isn’t accurate to say “it still helps”. Rather, placebos make you THINK it helps.
ETA: Put another way, in general, the “benefit” of placebos is more about the fact that a person attributes some benefit to the placebo (incorrectly). They are also more likely to BELIEVE they have lessened symptoms, etc. It isn’t really necessarily that anything is any different.
I went on a cruise and used ginger rescue. I really liked them, but they are medication free. My motion sickness is pretty mild. My unsolicited advice is to get the ginger rescue and dramamine/Bonine. Start with the Ginger Rescue, which has no side effects and step up to drugs only if needed.
The Ginger Rescue tasted way better than expected, by the way.
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Also they gave me a rash on my wrist. YMMV
I have moderate to high motion sickness depending on ride type - I avoid spinny rides all together and need help on enclosed and video-based rides. Ginger has never really done anything for me, sea bands either.
I take the less-drowsy Bonine every park morning and it gets me through with only minor weirdness, even on rides like FoP. No issues with drowsiness for me.
I find it is more important to head off the sickness than try to minimize the effects later - once that switch is thrown for me, I am mostly out of commission for the day or even more.
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Ginger does have calming effects on the stomach (which is why some vets recommend giving your dog a few ginger snaps before a car trip if they are prone to carsickness). But the results seem to be idiosyncratic.
Motion sickness is part physiological, part environmental, and part psychological. Some people have more sensitive neural sensors in their inner ears which can become over-stimulated and trigger a motion sickness event. What is or isn’t in the stomach can trigger motion sickness (we always tell people who are prone to motion sickness never to fly on an empty stomach because an empty stomach moves around more in the abdominal cavity). It’s generally accepted that motion sickness is more likely in a hot environment with no airflow. But psychology is also a major factor. If you “know” that you get sick on a certain ride, the chances are you will.If you “know” that you don’t get motion sick you will have a much lower chance of getting sick.
Ginger is probably a combination of physiological and psychological.
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My sister will take a quarter or half a Dramamine. She’ll avoid the effects of the motion and most of the drowsiness.
does the non -drowsy Dramamine not work? I’ve only taken the stuff once or twice so I don’t really know. And rarely does any medication make me drowsy so I’m not a good judge of that.
Non-drowsy Dramamine is just Ginger.
Less-drowsy Dramamine is the same as Bonine.
Regular Dramamine is a different active ingredient as Bonine, but causes the most drowsiness.
I’ll ask her if she’s tried it.
With the regular Dramamine she fell asleep drinking coffee after taking one pill.
The quarter or half work well for her.
Good to know. I agree that once it hits, it’s too late!
I take a half of bonine and I’m still very drowsy for over 24 hours 
Maybe that’s what i was thinking of.
Asked my sister. She says the regular and non-drowsy Dramamine both work as effectively and she is not drowsy with the latter.
I cannot speak to any of this personally, but I read on one thread where someone stated that they would take regular Dramamine the night before and it would help them sleep the night before and would help with the motion sickness the next day.
Non drowsy, or LESS drowsy? There is a difference.